Ximen Red House (Former Ximen Market)

The Ximen Red House (西門紅樓), originally known as the Ximen Market (西門市場) or Shinkigai Market (新起街市場), is a historic commercial building located in the Ximending district of Wanhua, Taipei. Completed in 1908, it is commonly described as Taiwan's first government-built public market and remains one of the island's most recognizable examples of Japanese colonial-era architecture.

The building was designed by Kondō Jūrō (近藤十郎), a young architect serving in the Construction Section (營繕課) of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office, who was trained in Western architectural traditions at Tokyo Imperial University. Kondō conceived a bold and innovative design: an octagonal entrance pavilion (八角堂) — popularly said to symbolize 'gathering from all eight directions' (八方雲集) after the bagua, though no document records such an intention on the architect's part — attached to a cruciform-plan market hall (十字樓) that served as the main commercial space. The red brick exterior, with its Romanesque-influenced arched windows and buttressed walls, became an instant landmark in colonial Taipei. The octagonal hall's roof featured a steel-trussed radial structure resembling an umbrella frame, while each facade measured eight meters across.

During the Japanese colonial period, the octagonal building housed a refined retail space selling cosmetics, sundries, and luxury goods, while the cruciform building behind it functioned as a fresh produce and groceries market serving the surrounding Japanese residential community. The site was located adjacent to the Taipei Inari Shrine (臺北稻荷神社), creating a commercial and spiritual hub for the colonial settlement west of the old walled city.

The Red House survived the Allied bombing campaigns against Taipei during World War II, emerging from the war largely intact. After Japan's surrender in 1945 and the handover of Taiwan to the Republic of China, the building's function shifted dramatically. The octagonal hall was converted into a performance venue, initially hosting Peking opera troupes and later screening films. Through the 1950s-1990s, it operated as a popular cinema and entertainment center in the bustling Ximending commercial district.

The building was designated a Third-Class National Heritage site (later reclassified as a municipal heritage site) in 1997, recognizing its architectural and historical significance. After a devastating fire on 22 July 2000 gutted the cruciform building and the adjoining market stalls, extensive restoration work was undertaken. In 2007, the Taipei City Government's Department of Cultural Affairs entrusted management to the Taipei Culture Foundation, which successfully transformed the Red House into a cultural and creative industries hub. The octagonal building now houses a café, heritage exhibition space, and independent designer boutiques on the ground floor, with a performance venue on the upper level. The surrounding North and South Plazas have become vibrant gathering spaces, particularly notable as a center of Taipei's LGBTQ+ community and nightlife.

Today the Ximen Red House stands as one of the oldest and most complete surviving market buildings from the Japanese colonial era in Taiwan, and a testament to the commercial modernization programs implemented by the Governor-General's administration in early twentieth-century Taipei.